Oil-well packer.



No. 772,728. PATENTED OCT. 18, 1904.

- J. B. MERRITT.

OIL WELL PAGKER.

7 APPLICATION FILED IAB. 24, 1904.

I N0 MODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

TNE 5135.- VENTOR PATENTED OCT. 18, 1904. J. E. MERRITT. OIL W-ELLPAOKER.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 24, 1904.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

N0 MODEL.

v WmwassEsI- UNITED STAT-ES:

. Patented. October 18,1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

OIL-WE'LL PAQKER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 772,728, dated October18, 1904..

Application filed March 24, 1904:. Serial No. 199,683. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern: M

Be it known that I, J osEPH EDGAR MERRITT, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Bakersfield, in the county of Kern and State ofCalifornia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inOil-Well Packers, of

which the following is a specification.

In sinking oil-wells in certain districts it has been found that astratum of clay from eight to ten feet thick is usually interposedbetween the lower oil-bearing sand and the upper stratum ofwater-bearing sand. Great difiiculty has been experienced in preventingthe water from the upper stratum passing through the clay to theoil-bearing 'sand by following down the exterior of the casing,

thereby filling said oil-bearing sand in thestitutes no impediment tothe ordinary use of the well.

Two forms of construction are shown in the present application, theseforms, however, being very similar in structure.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a sectional view through a portion of awell, showing the packer in place therein. Fig. 2 is a sectional view,on an enlarged scale, through the, support for the packer. Fig. 3 is ahorizontal sectional view through the same. Fig. 4 is an-enlargedsectional view through the collar at the upper end of the lower packingmember. Fig. 5 is a similar view of the collar at the upper end of theupper packing member.

' Fig. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view through a slightly-modifiedform of structure. Fig.

.7 is a vertical sectional View, on an enlarged provided with a collar14:.

The same reference-characters are employed to designate similar partsthroughout the various figures of the drawings.

Theordinary well-casing is designated by 1, the oil-bearing sand beingshown atA with the cap of clay B 'thereabove, said clay havingsuperimposed thereon the water-bearing stratum O. This arrangement isillustrated inboth forms of the invention.

In the form illustrated in Figs. 1 to 5, inc1usive,.a lower packingmember is provided comprising a tube-section 2, thelower end of which isthreaded into a sleeve 3, that constitutes a support for the packing.This sleeve is provided with an annular exterior seat 4:, havingupwardly and outwardly inclined walls. by an enlargement 5',constituting the lower The lower end of the seat is formed end of thesleeve. Slips or jaws 6 are slidably I mounted in the seat and are heldin place by screws 7, threaded into the sleeve and passing through slots8,formed in said jaws." The outer faces of the jaws are serrated toprovide transversely-disposed teeth 9. Depending stems 10, carried bythe jaws, are slidably mounted in the lower wall 5 and are provided ontheir inner sides with sockets 11. Holding-keys in the form of rods 12are arranged to be placed across the lower end of the sleeve with theirends engaged in the sockets 11, thereby holding the jaws in theirlowermost position, said keys 12 being detachable, as is hereinafterfully explained. -Coiled springs 13, surrounding the upper ends of thestems and bearing, respectively, against the upper end of the wall 5 andthe lower end of the jaws 6, serve to urge said jaws upwardly, andconsequently outwardly, when released from the keys. The upper end ofthe packing-member tube 2 is (Illustrated particularly in Fig. 1.) Thiscollar 14 is threaded upon the upper end of the tube 2 and has aninterior shoulder 15 and an'exterior shoulder formed by its upper end,said exterior shoulder tapering toward its upper end and consisting of aseries of annular steps 16. The

tion with the above-described lower member and consists of a tubularsection 17, the lower portion of which is slidably telescoped in thelower tube 2. The lower end of the upper section carries an exteriorcollar 18, threaded thereon and located within said lower tube, saidcollar 18 coacting with the interior shoul der 15 to limit the upwardmovement of the upper member. The upper end of the tube 17 has threadedthereon another collar, 19, the lower end of which constitutes apackingshoulder which coacts with the stepped shoulder 16 of the lowermember, the lower end of said collar 19 being tapered, as shown, andbeing formed into a plurality of annular steps 20. The collar 19 alsoserves as a coupling between the upper packing member and a supplementalcasing or string of tubes, one of which is illustrated at 21.Compressible packing, preferably in the form of hemp 22, is wound aboutthe upper packing-tube 17 below the collar 19 and above the collar 1 1.

The operation of the packer may be briefly described as follows: Thefirst step is the removal of a portion of the original casing at asuitable point above the oil-sand. This may be readily accomplished bycutting a section of the casing, slitting said section, and removing thepieces by means of a mousetrap or fishing-tools, thus leaving thedesired portion of the hole that it is desired to pack without anycasing or tubing in it, (the solidity of the formation keeping the holeopen.) The packer is then lowered, by means of the supplemental tubing21, until the supporting device is in proper position below the break inthe original easing. hen-the desired position has been reached, themud-bucket on the sand-line is then run through the supplemental easingand dropping upon the holding-keys l2 detaches them from the sleeve andfrom the stems 10. The jaws being thereby released will be forcedupwardly by the springs 13, and consequently outwardly into engagementwith the main casing 1. The support will thereby be positioned andlocated. The lower member of the packer being rigidly supported, theupper member is forced downwardly by means of the supplemental tubing21. This will cause the lower portion of the upper member 17 to moveinto the lower member, and the shoulder 20 approaching the shoulder 16will force the packing material outwardly into the unsupported portionof the hole about the exterior of the lower section of the main casing,thereby stopping all leakage and preventing the flow of water to theoil-sand. Access to the bottom of the well is obtained, however, throughthe supplemental string of tubing 21 and through the tubes 2 and 17 ofthe packer.

From the illustrations and the above description it will be seen thatextremely simple packing means are provided which may be successfullyoperated at any desired point to thoroughly pack the well against thepassage of water thereabout to the oil-bearing sand.

As an indication of how the structure may be modified attention isinvited to the form illustrated in Figs. 6 to 8. The original casing isshown at 23, which casing is cut away in the usual manner. The lowerpacking member consists, as before, of a tube 24-, which, however, isextended to the bottom of the well, and thus constitutes a support forsaid lower member, the supporting device illustrated in theabove-described structure being obviated. This form is employed in wellswhere there is an inside string of easing that can be cut off and usedas a support. The upper end of the tube 24 carries a collar 25, havingan interior shoulder 26 and an exterior stepped shoulder 27. The upperpacking member comprises a tube 28, that is slidably telescoped withinthe tube 24: and carries a collar 29, coacting with the interior steppedshoulder 26. The upper end of the tube 28 has a coupling sleeve orcollar 30, constituting a connection for the upper supplemental stringof tubing 31, this collar 30 being provided with a lower steppedshoulder 32, that coacts with the lower packing member. The usualpacking 33 is employed, said packing being interposed between theshoulders 27 and 32. It will be apparent that the operation of thisdevice is exactly the same as that already described, and it is believedno detailed account thereof is necessary.

It will of course be understood that the invention is not limited to theexact details of construction illustrated in the two forms of theinvention, but that various changes may bemade without departing fromthe spirit or scope of the invention.

l laving thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In an oil-well packer, asupport comprising a sleeve having seats inits outer face,

said seats being provided with inclined walls, vertically sliding tubeengaging jaws a 1'- ranged in the seats, springs located below the jawsfor elevating them. and holding devices extending across the sleeve anddetachably engaging the jaws to hold the same in lowered positionagainst the action 0 t the springs.

2. In an oil-well packer, a support comprising a sleeve having seats inits outer face, said seats being provided with lower walls,vertically-sliding outwardly-moving tn lie-engaging jaws havingdepending stems slidably mounted in the lower walls and provided withsockets, springs surrounding the stems for elevating the jaws, andholding-rods extending across the sleeve and detachably engaging in thesockets of the stem.

3. In an oil-well packer, the combination of an upper member; a lowermember; said members being slidable within each other; a pack- 'llOing-collar secured to the upper member and formed with a plurality ofintegral steps on its exterior; a second packing-collar secured to theoutside of the lower member and formed 5 with a plurality of integralsteps on its exterior corresponding to the steps on the other collar anda shoulder upon its interior; and

a packing interposed between said collars.

4. In an oil-well packer, the combination of IO anuppermember; alowermember; said members being relatively slidable; a sleeve secured to thelower member and formed with inclined exterior walls; spring-controlledjaws slidable in ways in said inclined faces; and

detachable retaining devices for said jaws. 5

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presenoe'of two witnesses.i

' JOSEPH EDGAR MERRITT.

Witnesses:

S. 0. SMITH, M. L. BUTTZ.

